April 16, 2010

Mr. Scott Temple

Cleveland Community College
137 South Post Road
Shelby, NC 28152

Subject: ENG114 Final Project—Proposal

The utilization of records management is a vital operation to the success of a business. The information is used to
provide a history of the organization and their customers or clients. A record is an asset that has a legal value,
financial value, and a historical value. Regrettably, this is an element of office practices that is undervalued and
overlooked as a significant function (that is, until a file cannot be found). It is my passion to research effective ways
to improve this role in office management. My intention is to research the following functions of records
management:

1. Receipt and creation of the record.

2. Distribution of records to external and internal users.
3. The use of the records to a particular business.
4. Procedures for filing, storing, and retrieving the records.
5. The life cycle and disposition of records.

My research will include the best practices applicable to the particular organization of interest. The research will
include a analysis of records management already in place, research concerning the best practices from several web-
sites, and suggestions listing attainable goals for improvement.

The research will consist of at least four pages to cover the subject. I will include information from Web sites such
as National Archives best practices and File Management, LLC. My research will require four or more works cited
entries which will be comprised of information from the above Web sites, text books, and Office PRO magazine. I
cannot foresee any cost to complete the research. I estimate two weeks time to compile the study.

My desire is to provide a valuable report that will give insights to the organization in which I currently work part-
time. My ultimate goal is to improve the overall ease of retrieving records that will provide savings in time, which at
the end of each day, conserves labor hours. I am currently working towards a degree in Office Systems Technology
and desire to obtain a full-time permanent position with this organization. Currently, technology is ever changing
and the responsibility of the administrative professional is evolving and increasing in complexity. The rules related
to records storage will continue to be an essential skill for the administrative professional. My hope is to make a
difference in the functionality of three factors with respect to files in this office:

• Location of files
• Confidentiality and Safety
• Indexing, Cross-referencing, and sorting of records.

I look forward to your insights concerning this research. I appreciate your time and await your response.

Sincerely,

Karen G. Harrison